Employer sent a W2 in January where income in Box 1 was $9500 higher (everything else was correct). When I called them they said they have no idea why this was the case. But it seems when these were printed their system added non-taxable retirement contributions (9500) to my income.
Their tax dept claims they have the correct number in their "system" and sent me another W2 which has the correct amount in Box 1 (doesn't include the additional $9500). He told me to ignore the first W2 (which he says he has no idea how it was created) and to just use the second one. The correct W2 that they sent me doesn't have a "corrected" box checked - it's just a regular W-2 and not a W2-C.
My concern is how do I know which version they submitted to the IRS? He said I won't get a corrected version and should just save the "incorrect" version for my reference if I run into issues post filing. Do I need to push them any further to ensure they sent /reported the correct W-2 to the IRS or am I overthinking it?
Make some notes of everything you were told and keep copies of both W-2s. Since they mentioned that the problem appeared when the W-2s were printed, it is possible that the correct information was transmitted to the IRS and the issue was only related to printed the W-2s for some reason.
File your return with the correct information and have your documentation ready in the unlikely event that you receive a letter from the IRS down the road.